by Shea, K. M.
Raven resisted the temptation to yawn and instead stared vacantly at the quiet computer lab.
“Yeah,” Royce said, spinning in his chair. “This is why I said I didn’t need help.”
“…I see,” Raven carefully replied.
“Wednesdays are usually slow. Thursdays sometimes are a little busier since students cram to get their work done for the week,” Royce drawled, placing his feet on the desk.
Raven raised an eyebrow and Royce hastily lowered them.
Raven stared at the library patrons, a thoughtful frown momentarily twitching across her face. “I’ve noticed something… most of our early afternoon customers are girls,” Raven observed, moving her gaze to the wine red log that held a list of the computer users.
“Yeah, Jeremiah claims it’s because of him,” Royce grinned.
“Hmn,” Raven said.
Raven looked up as Daire approached Royce’s desk, a pale boy following in his wake.
“Royce, Rachel. This is William, our trainee for this semester. Royce, are you willing to play mentor again?” Daire asked, his sharp eyes focused on Royce.
“Sure,” Royce nodded. He didn’t sound particularly enthusiastic with the idea, but he gave the small boy a reassuring smile.
It didn’t work. The middle schooler hunched to an even smaller size.
“It’s just the usual mentorship program, right? Royce said.
“Yes. If you cannot be spared from your normal duties feel free to dump him on Jeremiah. Do not send him to the twins. I don’t want to explain to the library board—again—how two of our employees caused permanent mental anxiety to a 12-year-old,” Daire said, already looking past Royce, his eyes trained on the kitchen door.
“What about Rachel? Yeah, she hasn’t been here long enough to know the ins and outs of Saint Cloud, but I’m sure she could answer most of his questions. Especially if they are situation or rule based,” Royce said, giving Raven a friendly smile.
Raven nodded, giving Royce a 100 watt smile before turning to face William.
William blushed to the roots of his hair and adjusted his glasses.
Daire looked over his shoulder at the patrons, who were starting to purr and stretch like cats as they eyed him. “…I would prefer you send him to Jeremiah. Thank you,” Daire said with a pinched expression before making a hasty exit. He disappeared through the door to the staff area before the first girl got a chance to ask a question.
Royce adjusted his hat, almost completely hiding his look of doubt, before he smiled at the boy. “Howdy William.”
William said hello to the floor.
Royce blinked, but his smile remained in place. “Why don’t you throw your backpack in a locker in the kitchen and we’ll get started. It’s through the door Daire just went through.”
The boy shuffled off and Royce tugged on the brim of his Stetson. “Wow, he’s a talker.”
“So Saint Cloud is still part of the internship program?” Raven asked, watching the smaller boy hesitate before entering the employee only section of the library.
“Yeah. Every school semester and over the summer we get one sixth or seventh grader page turner trainee who shadows us. I take the ones in the beginning of the school year. Brannon takes the ones that come during the second semester, and we share mentor duties for the summer apprentice.”
“My previous library of employment had a similar system. I think it’s common practice,” Raven said with an exaggerated wink. She was quiet for a second while tapping her chin. “But you only get one trainee? At my previous library we usually had around four to eight per semester… and it’s a lot smaller than Saint Cloud.”
“Yeah. Brannon—besides Daire and Jeremiah he’s been here the longest—Brannon said they used to take in a dozen or two dozen kids to teach. That stopped when circulation activities halted,” Royce sighed.
Raven hesitated a moment, weighing her options. She had to be careful about this, if she said too much she might kill the small opportunity she had with Royce. “You are dissatisfied about the mentorship program?”
“No,” Royce said, shaking his head. “But you’re right. We should have more than one kid. We’re the biggest library in the area, but we don’t have the staff to support such a large program. Usually the circulation librarians and the reference librarians cooperated to handle it, but Mrs. Conners has enough to do already, so Director Eastgate gave us the responsibility.”
Raven thoughtfully curled a strand of hair around her finger. “Director Eastgate shows no inclination to restart circulation services, doesn’t he?”
“Nope,” Royce said. “And we can’t do a thing about it.”
“But Daire is his nephew. Couldn’t he talk to him…,” Raven said, trailing off when Royce shook his head again.
“Nope,” he repeated. “Never ask Daire to do anything about his uncle.”
Raven furrowed her brows, confused. The little upstart was bleating to EC that any pressure would upset his family ties. Was he not as close to his uncle as he claimed to be?
“And even then, it doesn’t matter. Daire doesn’t seem to want to open the book section either. I’m not sure if anyone does, really,” he shrugged, twisting in his chair to look over his shoulder at the kitchen door before he leveled Raven with a gaze. “I’m not telling tales about this, I’m letting you know so you don’t accidentally get your head bitten off. If you tell Daire I said this it doesn’t matter because it’s the truth. The full time staff of Saint Cloud don’t seem to want to change things. I don’t know if Saint Cloud will ever get back online with circulation services,” he said before greeting the newly returned William.
As Royce cheerfully explained the sign in process, Raven nibbled on the tip of a pen. She had done enough footwork, and had quite possibly made an ally out of Royce. It was time that she started her frontal assault on the library, as well as searching it for her father.
“Sorry Ray, but we’ve got a couple of patrons who need help printing. Could you watch the kid for a while? I’ve gotta help them, Brandon isn’t back from football practice,” Royce said, standing up and smiling at the patrons waiting by the printer station.
“Sure,” Raven said with a charming smile.
“Great, thanks. Just tell him about… shelving books or something,” Royce said before striding away.
Raven turned to hopefully charm William, but the timid boy persisted in staring at his feet.
The smile fell off Raven’s lips and she shrugged and leaned back in her chair. “I remember my apprentice days. The instructors scared the tar out of my classmates and me. He said students who failed the class were demoted and forced to work in the heating room with the goblin mechanics.”
William squeaked.
“It was nothing but a tall tale,” Raven said, folding her arms behind her head. “But I was so happy to get my page turner ring I just about cried.”
William mumbled a muted combination of words.
“I’m sorry William. I didn’t quite hear that. Could you repeat it?”
William mumbled again.
“I still didn’t catch it. Perhaps if you looked up?”
He did not, but he did speak louder. “What’s your core? What is the magical core of your ring?”
“Oh,” Raven said, holding her hand out to display the simple silver ring. “A chip of an Arctic unicorn’s horn. I have natural ice magic, so the jewelers decided an animal with ice affinity would be a good choice,” Raven studied her ring and straightened it on her long finger. “It’s served me well, I like it a lot. It’s helped me with my control of ice magic too. What do you want as a core?”
Raven patiently waited, but William retreated back into a state of muteness. Raven sighed before launching into an explanation of the online eBook system. When Royce returned she was in the process of wrapping up. “So because we use a third party website to do the eBook lending, we actually have nothing to do with the eBook lending with the exception of getting patrons registered with
the site. The third party handles everything else about online lending. Does that sound right, Royce?”
“Yep, did you use EBSCOhost at your library for eBook lending too?” Royce asked, swaggering up to the desk, sitting down on the edge of it.
“Yes, we did,” Raven nodded, making her dangling earrings jingle.
At that moment the twins blew into the room, their backpacks thrown over their shoulders as they headed for an exit. In a synchronized movement they looked at the sign in desk and abruptly switched their course.
“….Is this the new trainee?” one of them asked, his hands hidden in the deep pockets of his jacket.
“Not much to look at,” the other said.
Royce uneasily stood. “William, this is Asher and Aron Montamos. They’re shift level, level two page turners here at the library.”
“Hi,” William said.
The twins grunted, completely uninterested in the middle schooler.
“What level are you at, Royce?” Raven asked.
Royce grinned broadly, pleased with her question. “Shelf, the third level! I just passed the tests three months ago.”
“Wow! Congratulations,” Raven said, clapping her hands.
“What are level are you?” Royce asked, returning the question to Raven as the twins blinked in unity.
“I’m shelf level as well! I’m just three points shy of snagging the coveted desk level title!” she said, winking as she held her right hand out, flicking two fingers up in a “V” for victory sign.
William’s eyes shot up to stare at her with shock.
The twins’ jaw dropped and one stopped the creepy uniform twin thing long enough to say, “Seriously?”
“But Ray are you even 16 yet?” Royce asked, removing his Stetson to fan his face.
“Nope! They made an exception for me. I’ve got exceptional affinity to library magics,” Raven beamed, internally wondering if she shouldn’t have said anything.
Raven didn’t understand why, but Gram had refused to falsely lower her level for the assignment. Her test scores, the points she earned, the programs she helped in and started were all listed in her file, even the various misdemeanors she got for refusing to read out loud were there. Raven wished Gram had foraged at least part of her file. She looked pretty suspicious between her off the chart scores for library magic affinities and her shady refusal to read.
Raven had asked the bristling man why they didn’t craft a new file for her, and his reply had surprised her. “I intended to, but I talked to your supervisor. She heavily recommended I keep your file the way it is—with minimal changes of course. She said it might help you with the library director.”
When Raven asked what on earth he meant by that, Gram waved her concern off and told her she should be grateful, it would mean one less thing she needed to memorize.
“…They must really be lowering their standards at the testing centers,” one of the shocked twins said before his brother elbowed him. The siblings exchanged glances of irritation before settling back into their alien-like synchronization.
“Wow,” Royce said, widening his mint green eyes.
“Yep,” Raven said as the twins turned and continued on their way, exiting the library. “It’s been a lot of work, but it’s worth it.”
“I imagine so,” Royce said.
Raven gave no more thought to her level as a page turner, which she didn’t know set off a spark of curiosity in two of her coworkers. Instead she stood and stretched. “I’ll be back. I’ve got a question I need to ask Alison.”
Royce snapped his neck up to squint at her. “Miss Morris? The children’s librarian?”
“Yes, that would be her.”
“When did you meet her? I didn’t introduce you.”
“I sort of ran into her earlier when I was walking around the library,” Raven said with a sheepish laugh, winking at Royce before playfully knocking her knuckles on her head.
“And she introduced herself as Alison?” Royce asked, his mint green eyes intense.
Raven uneasily shifted. “Sorta. She said her name was Alison Morris. She told me to call her Alison.”
Royce bonelessly flopped back in into his chair, his expression pensive as William uncomfortably rubbed his hands together. “Well I’ll be,” the would-be-cowboy said.
“Royce?” Raven asked.
Royce fanned his hand through the air. “It’s nothing. Miss Morris’s office is in the children’s area upstairs. Do you need me to show you where?”
“Nah, thanks though. I’ll take this opportunity to explore a bit,” Raven said, giggling as she bounded away, making a beeline for the stairs. She started up them, her steps careful as she climbed.
When she reached the top she took a moment to orientate herself on her mental map of the library. “Better hurry and get this over with,” Raven said, tottering a few steps before adjusting her stride.
She forged her way through the fiction shelves, occasionally glancing at the barely stirring paintings on the ceiling. The ornate stone work was silent today, no fairies came to greet her, there wasn’t a bitter taste to the magic, there was nothing unusual about the library at all.
“Maybe I imagined it,” Raven muttered. “How can a library like this have tainted magic anyway?”
Raven stopped when she reached the clearly marked entrance to the children’s area. It was built directly above the staff offices and the KQ materials room. Having been part of an addition, it didn’t fit in with the interior and Gothic exterior of the main portion of the library.
The ceiling dropped significantly, reaching up only twenty or so feet instead of the awe inspiring vaulted ceiling the fiction library possessed. While the rest of the library was tastefully elegant, the children’s section was brightly decorated with toys, posters, and murals depicting pastel colored fairytale figures. It was welcoming and smelled like hot cocoa.
Raven was sure it was every child’s dream come true.
Raven walked up to the entrance, a wooden archway that was decorated with the only ornate woodcarvings in the whole room. The frame was sculpted to resemble fluffy clouds.
“Beautiful, isn’t it? It’s homage to the library guardian: Air Synasfel,” Alison Morris said, leaning against a short bookshelf as a crooked smile leaked from her lips.
“Oh, hello Alison! I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there. I was just admiring your area,” Raven said, stepping into the kid’s section.
“I just arrived, don’t worry about it. Welcome to my domain!” Alison said, flinging her arms wide. “Do you like it?”
Raven nodded, her eyes flying across the shelves and the giant stuffed animal toys scattered through the room. “I love it. Children must adore this place.”
Alison dropped her hands and shrugged, her smile gone. “They did,” she said before changing the subject. “How can I help you?”
“Oh,” Raven said, fleeing to her fluttery persona. “Yes, I’m terribly sorry to interrupt you, but you see I really wanted to see more of the library,” she said, linking her fingers together. “I was going to try the top walkway, because that’s pretty high up, but then it totally reminded me that there’s gotta be some security platforms. I was hoping you wouldn’t mind taking me up one? Please? I really want a better look at the paintings on the ceiling,” Raven said, raising her clasped hands to Alison.
Alison slowly nodded, thinking. “A better view, huh?”
“Yep!” Raven chirped.
To her shock, Alison smiled and said, “Sure, I can do better than boring old security platforms. Come on,” she said, heading over to a benched in play area that contained dozens of toys. “We just have to get Charlie, and you can take a spin on our security route,” Alison said, stepping over a fluffy stuffed rabbit the size of a large toddler. She almost knocked over a tower of blocks, and nudged a toy train aside before stopping in front of a battered rocking horse.
“Security route?” Raven asked, staring at the painted horse, which was rather dingy
compared to the other soft, newer toys with its peeling paint and ratty mane and tail.
“Yep, you’ll see what I mean as soon as I get everything set up,” Alison said, lifting the rocking horse up. She carried it out of the play area and the children’s section, following the wall for a few paces.
Alison set the horse down and effortlessly pushed a stone gargoyle several feet with a one hand. She caught Raven’s wide eyes and grinned. “It’s just a plastic mold. It was made to cover this,” Alison said, pointing to a dusty gearbox.
She unfolded the box, making a hook like creation that was attached to the wall with L shaped metal rods.
Alison dragged the rocking horse closer before feeling under it, her fingers sliding along the cracked paint.
Raven watched as Alison dug her nails into the cracks and pulled. The horse’s entire belly pulled out, revealing a mechanical looking interior. Alison set the belly plug aside and lifted the toy up, lining it up with the dusty gears. She fitted the horse over it; the gears filled the belly and clicked tight. The L shaped rods plunged straight down, hitting the ninety degree corner a few inches beneath the rocking horse’s rails before swooping to the side and connecting to the wall.
Alison slapped the horse’s back. “Hop on,” she instructed.
“Erm, what?” Raven asked, shifting from foot to foot.
“There’s a track that runs around the library ceiling. Back when this section was open a circulation librarian would ride this on a weekly basis for observation purposes,” Alison said, beckoning at Raven. “You want a good view? This is the best.”
“Okay,” Raven said, drawing closer to Alison. She stopped next to the horse and hesitated before holding her skirt against the back of her legs and sitting down, one leg on either side of the rocking horse.
Raven rested her feet on the toy’s track, her knees hitting the handles protruding from the horse’s neck.
Alison reached down and cinched a ratty yellow belt around Raven’s waist. The belt was attached to the base of the horse’s neck. “So you don’t fall off,” Alison said in an encouraging tone. “That shouldn’t be an issue, but sometimes heights do funny things to people,” she said, walking back to the plaster gargoyle. She peeled back a panel on its back, revealing a row of buttons that she started pushing.